Sunita Williams' Rescue Mission: NASA, SpaceX to launch Crew 10 on Holi 2025! Check out the full schedule
Produced by Tarun Mishra
Produced by Tarun Mishra
NASA and SpaceX have announced that the Crew-10 mission will launch on Friday at 7:03 PM EDT (Saturday, 4:30 AM IST) to facilitate the return of astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, according to Reuters.
The announcement follows the cancellation of a previous Crew-10 launch attempt from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida due to a technical issue with a ground support clamp arm for the Falcon 9 rocket.
Williams and Wilmore, who initially travelled to the International Space Station (ISS) for an eight-day mission, have been in space for nine months after Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft was unable to bring them back.
If the Crew-10 mission proceeds as scheduled, Williams and Wilmore are expected to depart the ISS after March 20.
The mission will transport a fresh crew to the ISS, including NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, Japan’s Takuya Onishi from JAXA, and Kirill Peskov from Roscosmos.
NASA has reiterated that astronaut safety is its top priority. The ISS remains fully stocked with supplies, ensuring that the crew can continue their work without disruptions.
The mission had been rescheduled earlier by two weeks following a request from former US President Donald Trump and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk to accelerate the return of Wilmore and Williams.